


You are my ghost

by orphan_account



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, Sexy Zone
Genre: M/M, Mentions of character death obviously, but nothing to worry about in my opinion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:36:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fuma was rather tired of dealing with ghosts, but that one living in his new room was an especially bad case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You are my ghost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tania](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Tania).



> This story is based on the “Mediator” series of Meg Cabot.  
> This is a JE Wakamono Exchange 2014 entry. It was originally posted here http://je-wakamono.livejournal.com/6149.html?view=39173#t39173

Fuma had always been able to see things others could not, from the day that he was born. His parents had explained it away as imaginary friends, but it wasn’t until Fuma turned 5 and his grandmother died, that he realized what it really meant.

His parents had spent almost an hour explaining life and death to him and why he could not meet his grandmother anymore from now on, but as soon as he had walked into his room, she had been standing by the window, smiling at him.

His grandmother was the one explaining to him that he had a special gift. He was able to see the ghosts of the lost souls that still had a connection to the present, that had things keeping them from leaving their life behind and moving on. And that, once he grew older and understood what it meant, it would be his task to help them, to guide these people to “go on”, whatever that meant.  


His grandmother’s words had sounded nice and exciting, but now, 13 years later, Fuma was quite sick of his little talent.

He was sick of magically attracting all these desperate ghosts begging him for help. He was sick of their moods and their self-centred demands, bringing him into trouble constantly and making his parents see _him_ as a trouble-maker. He was no trouble-maker, but try to explain that to them when the police brought him home in the middle of the night because he had “picked a fight with some Yankees” (which he had _not_ , he had just tried to tell them that their leader had died in an accident to keep them from attacking their rival group, or whatever that annoying ghost had demanded of him over and over again as he had been trying to fall asleep).

It was not like Fuma was opposed to helping anyone out, it was just that none of these dead people seemed to realize that he actually still _had_ a life, and that he prioritized his own, present needs to those of people whose life was already done with. And he did not in the least mind that this sounded cold-hearted, because as long as those ghosts did not care if he would be grounded or thrown out of class or whatever, he would not care about them, either. It was a giving and taking, after all.

When he got accepted at Keio University, Fuma was happy for various reasons: A) He could prove to his parents that he was not a total failure of a son, and B) he could finally move out from home and live by himself in one of the university dorms. This meant a freedom he had not known before, and no family around to observe when he was acting weirdly or mumbling to himself.

Fuma’s excitement died down, though, when he entered his new room with his parents, only to see that it was already occupied.

Fuma took a moment to glare at the dark haired boy sitting on his window sill, observing them will a rather dull interest before staring back at the sky outside, but he did not speak up until they had brought all his stuff into the room and his parents had waved him goodbye and taken off again.

“Okay, I am sorry to intrude” Fuma said finally, making the ghost look up at him with raised eyebrows, as if he thought Fuma was talking to himself. Well, there was one thing Fuma was used to. “But this is _my_ room now, so could you please search yourself some other room to haunt?!”

“You can see me?” the boy frowned, looking him up and down once, and Fuma rolled his eyes.

“Would I be speaking to you if I couldn’t?!” he demanded. “Anyways, you might have lived here before or something, but now it is me paying the rent, and I don’t want to share.”

“And where am I supposed to go?!” the ghost demanded defensively.

“I don’t care” Fuma shrugged. “Go haunt your family or whoever, not me.”

“Oh, I have no intention to _haunt_ you” the other boy snapped, glaring. “I don’t even know you, for god’s sake!”

“Well, that has never stopped you people from coming to me” Fuma said bitterly, crossing his arms. “What do you want me to do? Tell your Mama that you love her? Tell your girlfriend to move on? Punch your best friend who betrayed you? Tell me already so we can get this over with and I can have my room to myself!”

“I don’t want you to do anything!” the boy groaned. “If I needed help, I would certainly not go to _you_! Now will you please just leave me alone?!”

“I would, but you are in _my_ room!” Fuma reminded him testily, only to get a roll of eyes in return. “ _Please?!”_ he stressed, but when he still was met with an empty stare, he groaned and reached for the doorknob. “Why _always_ me?!” he mumbled, throwing the door closed behind himself a little too hard, but no one was in the corridor to see it.

Even while getting himself something to drink he could not find any peace, but at least the people talking to him were actually alive this time, so Fuma gritted his teeth and tried to be social.

“You are living in room 13, right?” A girl cutting some onions at the table checked, eyeing her friend wearily as she zapped through the TV. “Nakajima Kento-Kun’s old room?”

“Yes?” Fuma said slowly, his eyes narrowing as he watched the girls exchange another glance. “What about that dude? Was there something wrong with him?”

“No, he was nice enough” the girl at the TV shrugged, not looking up at him. “But then he suddenly died two months ago, so it’s still a little weird, I guess.”

“I see” Fuma nodded, not as surprised as he was probably required to be, but he had no patience for any acts, instead wanting answers. “Why did he die?”

“No one really knows” the other girl frowned. “He was out with his little brother on his high school grounds at night, and somehow there was an accident. His brother won’t tell anyone what exactly happened, apparently he is under shock.”

“Hm” Fuma just nodded, taking another sip of his drink.

“But it’s nothing you need to worry about, I guess” she smiled. “It’s not like he will haunt your room or something.”

Fuma’s laughter was forced, but he was pretty sure the girls could not tell.

***

“So, your name is Nakajima Kento?” Fuma sighed as he entered the room again, finding his new house ghost exactly where he had left him. “What am I supposed to do now? Clear up your mysterious death?”

“I told you I don’t want you to do anything!” Kento snapped, dark eyes glaring at him.

“But I want you out of my room!” Fuma pointed out, sitting down on his bed and glaring right back. “So we’d better figure out how to move you on to your afterlife or whatever.”

“I have no interest in an afterlife” Kento murmured, staring out of the window again.

“How did you die?” Fuma continued, ignoring his input. “Apparently your brother won’t talk. Did he kill you?”

“ _No!”_ Kento called, looking at him angrily. “Sou had nothing to do with this, leave him out of it!”

“Okay, okay!” Fuma nodded, clicking his tongue in annoyance. “Then what happened? Why won’t he talk?”

“Because no one will believe him if he tells the truth” Kento said slowly, frowning at him. “You of all people should understand that best.”

Fuma opened his mouth to respond, but then held in to let the meaning of those words sink in.

“It’s something supernatural” he pinpointed, his eyes taking in the other boy’s face with a new found interest. “Well, now you got my attention.”

“Nice, but I don’t want it!” Kento snapped. “I told you to leave me alone!”

“I am not going through this again!” Fuma groaned in frustration. “I moved out to finally have some privacy, and not to share my room with a bitchy ghost moaning over his lost life!”

“Gosh, you are annoying” Kento murmured, making Fuma throw a pillow at him, satisfied when the boy dematerialized before it hit him. He knew he would not get rid of the ghost permanently like this, but at least he might have the room to himself for a few minutes.

“I can give that compliment right back, stupid ghost” Fuma muttered, letting himself fall onto his bed with a sigh.

***

It was easy to research Nakajima Kento’s death - news about it were all over the internet, even if they were not very informative. All he could learn was that the accident had happened at the same high school his younger cousin had just entered.

Marius was the only family member that actually knew of Fuma’s ability to see and communicate with ghosts. The half-German kid had always had a weird sixth sense, suspecting and accepting supernatural phenomenons in a way that even Fuma had trouble doing sometimes (Fuma assumed that he had wandered around too much in German fairy tale forests before coming to Japan), and when he had walked in on a hysteric girl ghost throwing random stuff at Fuma, he had believed Fuma’s explanation immediately and had promised to keep it a secret.

Marius was a little weird and clingy sometimes, but Fuma knew that he could count on him, so when he called him up to meet, the younger one accepted, waiting for Fuma at the coffee shop they had agreed to meet with a characteristic giant smile.

“Yeah, I heard of that accident” Marius nodded when Fuma came right to the point, telling his cousin everything he knew about his newly acquainted ghost. “Everyone at school is talking about it, actually. I feel so sorry for poor Matsushima-Kun.”

“Matsushima-Kun?” Fuma frowned, sucking at his pastry fork in confusion.

“He’s Nakajima-Kun’s step brother who was with him when he died. Everyone keeps their distance from him and stops talking when he passes them by and I dunno… he just looks really lonely” Marius sighed, and Fuma had to smile at the way Marius managed to have compassion with everyone, no matter if they had any connection to him or not. Completely opposite to Fuma, who just wished everyone would mind their own business and leave him alone.

“Do you think I could talk to him?” Fuma asked finally. “Maybe he is more communicative than his stupid brother.”

“He has not told the police what happened” Marius noted carefully. “Do you really think he will tell you?”

“I have good arguments” Fuma grinned. “Something supernatural seems to play into this, and when I tell him that I met his dead brother he might be more inclined to confide in me.”

“Okay” Marius nodded, pursing his lips. “But please be nice to him. The poor boy has been through a lot.”

“I am always nice!” Fuma protested, and when Marius just raised an eyebrow at him, he rolled his eyes. “Well, I’ll try.”

“Yeah, please try!” Marius stressed, and Fuma just made a face at him and stole the last bit of his cake, making Marius whine loudly enough to alert the whole coffee shop.

***

They caught Matsushima Sou the next day on his way out of the school buildings. When Marius addressed him, he looked positively frightened, but Marius had always had a gentle manner, so Fuma left the talking to him, for once.

“Matsushima-Kun, I am sorry, but could we talk to you for a few minutes?”

“Why?” Sou asked suspiciously, eyeing first Marius and then Fuma with a frown.

“This is my cousin, Kikuchi Fuma” Marius introduced him, and Fuma did his best to smile and not look like he was up to something. “He just moved into the room your brother used to live in, and he found a few things that belonged to him. We wanted to return them to you.”

It was a flimsy lie, of course, and Sou seemed sceptic as he worried his lower lip between his teeth.

“But my step mum picked up all of his stuff a month ago” he said slowly. “Why is there still something left?”

“Apparently, your brother had some secret hiding places” Fuma said airily, holding out a bottle of soda to him as a peace-offering.

Sou took it hesitantly, and finally followed them to a little path away from all prying eyes of the other students, sitting down on a small bench.

“So, what did you find?” he demanded, idly playing with the lid of his drink.

“Actually, that was a lie” Fuma admitted with a sigh. “I wanted to ask you about your brother’s death.”

Sou jumped up immediately, his jaw set, and Marius reached out for him with a panicked expression.

“Please, we don’t mean any harm!” he promised. “We just-”

“I met your brother” Fuma said firmly, deciding to get the truth out as quickly as possible. “He refuses to leave my room, and I am not so keen on his company, so please tell me what happened so I can help him move on.”

He kind of expected Sou to get angry and yell at him, because that was the common reaction to those kind of revelations, but instead, the younger boy looked at him with wide, almost curious eyes.

“He is still here?” Sou breathed. “He did not leave?”

“Sadly, no” Fuma sighed. “So I would really appreciate it if you-”

“Then why does he not come to see me?!” Sou demanded, his voice loud but shaky, and Fuma was stunned by both the words and the emotion in them. “I waited all this time for him to show up! Why is he hiding?!”

“You… you can see ghosts, too” Fuma murmured, and suddenly, Kento’s words made sense to him.

“Yes” Sou nodded. “And Kento knows that! So why did he-”

“What happened?” Marius said softly, his hands closing around the other boy’s arm and gently pulling him to sit back on the bench with them. “How did your brother die?”

“He… he was trying to protect me” Sou murmured, and suddenly, he looked even younger than Marius, like Fuma’s 10 year-old brother, maybe, and it clawed at his heart to see it. “There is this ghost that has been haunting this kid at school, and I wanted to help them, but she got all violent, and…” Sou took a shaky breath before concluding. “Kento pushed me aside just in time before the brick stone hit my head. But instead, it hit him, and… When I had called the ambulance, he was already dead.”

Marius stroked calming circles onto Sou’s back, and it seemed to be the only thing to keep the boy from bursting into tears. Fuma could not even blame him.

“Is that ghost still around?” Fuma asked quietly.

“Yes” Sou nodded. “She died when saving her younger brother from being run over by a car, and somehow… she seems to be blaming him. She keeps saying that _he_ should have died instead of her, and now she wants to kill him, and…” Sou gulped. “Maybe Kento is blaming me, too, and that’s why he is hiding from me.”

“That’s nonsense” Fuma said firmly. He did not know Kento very well, and even when he was there every time Fuma entered his room he still refused to speak to him, but he could tell that Kento loved his step brother. Whatever his reasons for searching the distance were, he must have thought of Sou all that time. “If you want, we can go meet him. He’s hanging around my room all the time anyways.”

“Really?” Sou asked in a small voice.

“Yes” Fuma smiled. Sou lip quivered slightly, and Fuma felt exasperated with Kento again for leaving his brother to blame himself.

***

“Kento!” Sou called as soon as they had entered his room. Kento almost fell off the window sill, but quickly jumped to his feet when he noticed the people following Fuma into the room, his eyes zooming in on his step brother.

“Sou?” he asked incredulously, but was kept from saying anything more because in the next second Sou was across the room, hugging him close.

Fuma shot a quick look at Marius, who seemed a little uncomfortable being the only one left in the room who was unable to see Kento.

“You guys can touch the ghosts?” he murmured, and Fuma chuckled as he nodded.

“We can, but only if they let us” Fuma sighed. “Most of the time, I am landing on my ass when I try.”

“Why did you not come to see me?!” Sou demanded, and this time Fuma was positive that he was crying, but the look of pain on Kento’s face was just as terrible to observe, so he focused his eyes somewhere onto his shoelaces, feeling bad for intruding a family moment.

“Because I thought that, if you think that I moved on, you’ll feel better” Kento murmured. “And I wanted you to stay away from that ghost that killed me, so I just…”

“I am sorry” Sou whimpered. “Just because I did not watch out, you-”

“This is not your fault!” Kento said firmly, his hold around him tightening. “You did not ask me to come along, right?! I did that because I wanted to. I knew what could happen. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Sou called, his voice wracked with sobs. “I miss you! I don’t want you to leave!”

Kento did not answer, and for a moment, the room was filled with silence. Fuma figured that it was okay for him to speak now, even if Sou was still sniffling in Kento’s embrace.

“So, what’s up with that ghost that killed you?” he said finally. “Do we need an exorcism or something?”

“I did not ask for your help!” Kento snapped, making Fuma roll his eyes.

“Why are you so hostile?!” Fuma groaned. “I brought you your brother, give me some credit here!”

“He is no bad guy, Kento” Sou said finally, pulling away from Kento to look at him. “He is like me, so-”

“He’s nothing like you” Kento pursed his lips. “You don’t have to live with him, you don’t understand!”

“No one is asking you to stay with me!” Fuma hissed, making Marius throw a pleading look at him. “What, you can’t even hear what he is saying, stop giving me that look!”

“Anyways, Kikuchi-Kun is right, Kento” Sou murmured. “We need to do something about that ghost, or next time it might be Shori-Kun who’s killed.”

“I have it under control” Kento said defensively. “I am keeping an eye on her. Nothing has happened since I died, right? When she decides to attack, I will be there.”

“You can’t monitor her 24/7” Fuma pointed out.

“But _you_ can” Kento scoffed.

“No” Fuma returned. “This is why we need to stop her before there are any more victims. Or do you want more people to die?!”

“No” Kento said idly. “But I am not letting Sou go anywhere near her ever again!”

“That’s fine, I’ll go” Fuma shrugged.

“No, you won’t!” Kento argued.

“Watch me!” Fuma snapped, reaching for the doorknob, but with a wave of his hand, Kento had pressed it closed and locked it. Damn ghosts and their stupid powers. “ _Nakajima_!”

“You don’t know how strong she is!” Kento called. “I don’t like you, but I am not going to let you run into your death!”

“I know what I am doing!” Fuma groaned. “I don’t need some ghost with an exaggerated hang for self-sacrifices to protect me!”

“Fuma, calm down” Marius murmured carefully, but Fuma ignored him.

“What do you want?!” Fuma demanded. “To keep me locked in my own room?!”

“Kento, please stop fighting” Sou murmured. “Maybe he can really help us, and-”

“All he wants is me out of his room!” Kento called, and I snorted.

“Just calm down!” Sou insisted. “Both of you!”

Fuma crossed his arms and leaned against the closed door, and Kento mimicked his position, glaring at him.

“Okay” Sou nodded, looking back and forth between them and then to Marius, as if he of all people could help him deal with the other two. “I actually think Kikuchi-Kun is right, we have to do something about this ghost.”

“Who is she, by the way?” Fuma demanded. “And why is she so intent on killing her brother?!”

“She is the older sister of 3B’s Sato Shori” Sou explained. “She was just finished with her studies at Todai and was employed there in the biological research, and everyone said she had a great future ahead… But then the accident happened. She apparently saved her brother out of instinct, but then, when she realized that she had died, she was furious. It seems like she talked herself into believing that, if she takes Shori-Kun’s life, she will go back to living.”

“That’s stupid” Fuma frowned. “I mean, I know you ghosts are good at twisting the reality a little, but she should know that’s not how it works!”

“I don’t get it either” Kento muttered. “But her anger is making her really strong and dangerous.”

“All the more reason for stopping her” Fuma pointed out, but Kento only rolled his eyes.

“How about you guys talk to Sato-Kun?” Marius suggested, speaking up even though one third of the conversation stayed hidden to him.

“He refuses to talk to me” Sou sighed. “Ever since the thing with Kento happened, he is scared out of his mind. He was there, too, but he ran for it after I had called the ambulance. The next day, I found a letter on our doorstep, saying that he was sorry for what happened and to not go near him ever again.”

“So he is blaming himself, too” Fuma nodded. “And he probably decided to let his sister haunt him all she wants, even if it costs his life. But how did you keep her from hurting him until now?”

“I did not need to do much” Kento admitted. “I think she is planning something. She is watching Sato-Kun closely, and every time I get near her, she disappears.”

“Then we should act before she sets her plan into action” Fuma pressed.

“You really have no sense for self-perseverance, do you?” Kento shook his head.

“If you get to haunt her down, why can’t I?!” Fuma demanded.

“Because I can’t die twice!” Kento called.

“Trivialities” Fuma hissed, and Kento snorted.

“But we really should do something, Kento” Sou murmured. “And if the three of us work together, maybe-”

“Forget it” Kento said vehemently, and for a moment, even Fuma found him a little scary. “You are not going anywhere near her, and if you do, I will never forgive you for it!”

“If I promise to stay away, will you go with Kikuchi-Kun?” Sou murmured in a small voice.

“Sou!” Kento called incredulous. “What the-”

“Either you’ll go with him, or I’ll do it” Sou said firmly, not looking at Kento as he said the words. “Your choice.”

Kento only stared at him wordlessly, and Fuma grinned, quite pleased with the kid.

“Yes, your choice” he nodded, making Kento glare at him again.

***

It was hours later, when Fuma was lying in his bed, for once enjoying privacy after Kento had promised to go home with Sou for the night, that he finally got his answer.

“Fine, I’ll go with you.”

“Go back to your family’s house” Fuma groaned without opening his eyes, but the sudden darkness announced that Kento had taken his usual place on the window sill, shielding the moonlight from falling into the room through the curtains.

“My family’s house is depressing” Kento murmured quietly. “I can’t stand the dull mood.”

Fuma sighed, finally opening his eyes to look at Kento.

“I get that you want to protect Sou-Kun” Fuma said finally. “But I don’t think this is the right way.”

“Sou is too caring” Kento sighed. “He wants to help everyone, and he keeps bringing himself into trouble. I just want to look out for him.”

“I can look out for him, if you want to” Fuma said without thinking, but he meant the words nevertheless.

“Really? Even if it’s _troublesome_?” Kento scoffed.

“Yes” Fuma promised. “I’ll make sure he won’t get himself killed.”

“Thank you” Kento whispered, and even through the darkness Fuma could see the soft smile on his lips. It made Fuma unable to breathe for a moment.

Maybe it was the moonlight or his lack of sleep, but suddenly, Kento looked breathtakingly beautiful.

“Let’s try to face that ghost tomorrow” Kento sighed. “Maybe then, I can really move on to wherever I need to be.”

Fuma’s chest tightened, and for the first time, he wondered if he really wanted Kento to disappear, after all.

***

“What are these?” Kento asked curiously as Fuma packed his bag.

“Crystals” Fuma explained. “We need to keep her from running, after all, and if we cage her with these, she can’t escape.”

“Does this really work?” Kento asked skeptically, picking one of them up to observe them more closely.

Fuma grinned and picked up the rest of them, building a small triangle around Kento’s feet while he was distracted. Kento looked only up when a soft glimmer surrounded him, caging him effectively between the crystals.

“Cool” he blinked, making Fuma laugh.

“Not only you ghosts have your little tricks, we have them, too” he teased, shaking his head quickly when Kento reached out his hands. “Don’t touch them, you will hurt yourself!”

Kento looked at him curiously, but believed him, and Fuma quickly picked up the crystals again.

“You’re not fighting me today” Fuma noted, watching him as he zipped his bag up and shouldered it. “What happened to my feisty house ghost?”

This time, Kento outright laughed at him, and Fuma needed to avert his eyes because his smile was too blinding for him to take.

“I figured you’re not as bad as I thought” Kento shrugged. “I bet we could even have been friends if I had met you when I was still alive. Oh well…”

Kento trailed off, and Fuma felt this sudden tightness in his chest again. This was new. He had never grown to like a ghost, much less wished that he could have met him before he had died, or that he would not move on.

Somehow, he had liked it more when Kento had still annoyed him.

Fuma was torn out of his trance when Kento held out his hand. Fuma just stared at it for a moment, before looking at Kento’s face in confusion.

“Take it” the ghost prompted. “I will take us to where she is.”

“You can?” Fuma blinked, surprised as he hesitantly laid his palm into the other boys.

Kento just smiled, and then, everything became white.

***

When he opened his eyes again, he was pulled behind a bush by Kento. He was just going to ask where they were, but the look on the other boy’s face stopped him, and he carefully peeked over the bush to see what was happening.

He could spot a girl’s ghost, solemnly staring into the window of a small family home. When Fuma followed her gaze, he saw a boy sitting on a desk, studying. Probably her brother, he noted.

“Give me the crystals” Kento hissed, and Fuma nodded, quietly setting down his bag and opening it, laying the utensils into Kento’s hands.

With another nod at him, Kento dematerialized, and Fuma had just enough time to look up from the bush to see him pop up again next to the other ghost, dropping the crystals even before she had realized what was happening.

She reached out for Kento with a groan, but the ethereal walls burned her skin as soon as he touched them, and she pulled back with a curse.

“You are becoming troublesome” she snapped, and Kento glared at her.

“So are you” Kento shot back. “When will you leave him alone?!”

“I was the one saving his life” she muttered. “I can also decide when to take it.”  


“No one can decide when to take lives!” Fuma called, finally revealing himself.

“Gosh, what human did you bring me now, boy?!” she groaned, looking at Kento. “And why can they all see me, do you have an army of those?!”

“People like me exist to kick the asses of ghosts like you that don’t follow the rules!” Fuma snapped, stepping closer.

“Well, now I’m scared” she said drily, crossing her arms. “Do you have more nice tricks like these? What are you pulling out of your magic trunk next, an elixir to eliminate me? Or simply a crucifix?”

“Haha” Fuma rolled his eyes. “If you are so smart, then why do you still think you are going to live when you kill your brother? This is the most foolish thing I have ever heard!”

“What do you understand?!” she snapped. “I should not have died! I had a future! My life was valuable!”

“And that of your brother isn’t?” He demanded, and added in a hiss: “Kento’s wasn’t?!”

“No one understands!” she suddenly screamed, much louder and shriller than Fuma had expected, and with a wave of her hand, the crystals were flying into Fuma’s direction, breaking her cage.  


Fuma ducked, but then he was thrown into the air by some invisible force. He heard Kento shout his name, but he had no idea where he was and then, he was falling.

He closed his eyes, expecting the pain. Instead, he was caught, strong arms closing around him, and a body cushioning his fall.

Kento groaned, and Fuma opened his eyes to look at the other boy underneath him in confusion. He had no time to ask if he was alright, though, because in the next moment, Kento had turned them around again, shielding Fuma from a couple of flying stones. They hit Kento right in the head, but Fuma knew that, even if he could feel pain, he could not seriously hurt himself.

Kento tried to fight back, but the girl was much stronger, fueled on by a rage Fuma had never seen with any other ghost he had met, and before he knew it, he had reached for Kento’s hand.

“Bring us back” he called. “Please, Kento!”

Kento closed his eyes, and in the next moment, everything was white.

***

He looked up to find himself back in his room, Kento still above him, catching his eyes.

“See, this is why I did not want you to go!” he called finally. “She is damn strong, even for you!”

Fuma nodded slowly, not quite knowing what to say, and Kento scrambled himself up from above Fuma with a sigh. Fuma missed his weight immediately. It had been strangely grounding.

“What are we going to do now?” Fuma asked, his voice weirdly shaky as he sat up as well. He cleared his throat to steady it.

“We will have to think of something else” Kento murmured. “But neither you nor Sou will go near her ever again. Please promise me that.”

Without thinking, Fuma nodded. He felt kind of helpless, knowing that Kento worried about him. He did not know what to do with himself.

Kento sighed, and Fuma risked a look at his face, everything inside of him tightening again, and suddenly, he knew what it all meant.

Just his luck. Of all the people, he had to fall in love with someone who had already died.

***

“Fuma!” Fuma blinked when he heard Marius’ voice as soon as he stepped out of the university building, and after a moment, he spotted Marius and Sou approaching him, Marius waving so flamboyantly that people were staring as they passed them by.

“What are you doing here?” Fuma frowned as they finally reached him.

“We need to talk to you” Sou said breathlessly. “Without Kento around.”

Fuma was confused at those words, but nodded nevertheless.

Fuma bought all of them a drink in the cafeteria, and they found a free table to sit down at.

“Now what is it?” Fuma asked impatiently. “Did you find out anything about Sato Shori’s sister?”

“No” Sou sighed. “But Mari and I did some research on the internet, and Mari translated all the English stuff for me. It seems like there are more people like us all over the world, and there are internet communities gathering information. They call us ‘Mediators’.”

Fuma nodded, but while this was certainly interesting information, it did not help them much in their current situation.

“And they gave descriptions of some useful tricks, mostly defensive mechanisms against ghosts and exorcism for especially bad cases… And time travel.”

“Time travel?” Fuma frowned, looking at him incredulously. “And you believe that stuff?”

“We tried it” Sou said simply, stunning Fuma by pulling a squirrel plushie out of his bag and placing it onto the table in front of Fuma.

“Mr. Scrunchie!” he murmured before he could help himself, picking the toy from his childhood up to look at it incredulous. “I lost that one when I was still in kindergarten. I cried for days. How did you…?”

Sou just smiled, and Fuma blinked at him in shock.

“You did not really…?”

“You were a cute 4-year-old” he chuckled. “And that panda hat you wore was totally adorable!”

“Shut up” Fuma groaned, shaking his head. “So this stuff really works?! We can time travel?!”

“Yes” Sou nodded.  


“We can save Kento” Fuma whispered before he could help himself, and the look in Sou’s eyes showed him that the younger boy thought the same thing.

“But they keep warning people from changing the past” Marius said slowly. “They say we cannot judge what consequences the changes might have, and that-”

“I don’t care” Fuma interrupted him. “I want to save Kento. I don’t care what happens when we do it.”

“You will not remember him, though” Marius murmured. “If he doesn’t die… you will never meet him. He won’t exist in your life.”

Fuma fell silent, letting that information sink in. It was true, he had only met Kento as a ghost, and if he never died, Fuma would not know that he even existed.

He remembered Kento’s smile, how it had felt when Kento had caught him, and suddenly, he knew that it did not matter.

He wanted Kento to live, even if that meant he would never get to be by his side.

“I want to save him” he repeated, searching Sou’s gaze. “No matter what it takes.”

Sou smiled, and nodded.

***

When Fuma returned to his room, Kento was sitting on his usual spot, smiling at him as he pushed the door closed behind him.

“You are late” Kento noted. “Did anything happen?”

“Nope, just grabbed something to eat on the way home” Fuma lied. They had agreed to not tell Kento about their plans, knowing he would want to stop them.

Kento did not doubt his words, and Fuma dropped his bag to the floor, throwing himself onto the bed with a sigh. Kento chuckled as he watched him, and Fuma looked up to meet his eyes, trying to gulp down that tight feeling in his chest again.

This time, he could pinpoint it exactly - it was the knowledge that maybe, this would be the last night he spent in Kento’s presence.

“Fuma?” Kento asked, frowning as he searched his face. “Anything wrong?”

“A lot of things” Fuma sighed, smiling despite the statement. “And you are on top of the list.”

Kento blinked at that, and Fuma groaned as he rolled around on the bed in frustration.

He only stopped when the bed shifted, telling Fuma that Kento had come over to join him on it.

“I am sorry, I know I am messing up your life at the moment” Kento murmured, looking so guilty that Fuma wanted to scream.

“You’re the first ghost who cares about that” he murmured.

“Once we die we keep losing relations, I think” he joked, and Fuma just looked at him, taking in his face and his eyes and that little birthmark on his nose, and he wanted to cry thinking that soon, he might not be remembering all of this.

But still, this was better than the alternative, he kept telling himself. Better than Kento disappearing from this world forever.

“Fuma?” Kento murmured, waving his hand in front of the other boy’s face. “What’s wrong with you? You are so absentminded.”

Fuma tried to tear himself out of his trance, tried to gulp down all the pain he felt at the thought of losing Kento, but he couldn’t. It was the opposite even, every time he tried, it seemed to get worse, and he did not know how to deal with these feelings.

Kento kept holding his gaze, searching Fuma’s eyes worriedly, and Fuma could not stop himself from drowning in those dark brown orbs, so expressive and vivid that he found it hard to believe they belonged to a ghost.

“Fuma?” Kento tried again, but Fuma shook his head, pushing himself up onto his elbow to be more at eye level with the other.

“Don’t ask any questions now” Fuma murmured. “Please.”

Kento frowned, and then, Fuma leaned up the last bit, connecting their lips.

Kento’s lips were neither cold nor warm, not having any kind of body temperature or scent due to him being a spirit, but Fuma could still feel him, unmoving and stiff as he was, and if anything, it made Fuma even more desperate. His free hand found Kento’s hair, fisting the soft strands and keeping him from pulling away, pressing closer, the movements of his lips impatient and demanding now, urgently praying for some kind of reaction.

When he finally got it, Kento moving from his stature-like posture, Fuma thought he was going to be pushed away, but instead, Kento’s arm went around his waist, holding him against him as he kissed him back.

Fuma’s emotions were a mess, and euphoria was running through him even though he felt like bursting into tears, but he did not let himself, instead kissing Kento harder and deeper until he could feel nothing but him.

Kento gasped against his lips as Fuma pulled him down with him, pinning him against the mattress and slipping his tongue past those parted lips.

Fuma was not sure how long they kept kissing, their movements growing sloppier with each passing minute, leaving Kento as breathless as him, even though, strictly speaking, the boy needed no oxygen.

“Fuma” Kento mumbled against his lips, but Fuma was not ready to talk, knowing what Kento would say if he let him.

That they could not do this. That Kento was already dead, and Fuma was not supposed to fall for him. That he needed someone as alive as him, someone that not only he could see. And that, by doing this, Fuma would find it even harder to let go of him once Kento had to leave for good.

Fuma knew all of this, knew even more than Kento was aware of, at this point, but he did not care about it. All he wanted was to feel him, if only for tonight.

If he was going to lose him anyways, one way or another, he wanted at least _this_.

So he just kissed him deeper, keeping Kento from bringing any more words out, and slipped his fingers under Kento’s shirt.

The skin of Kento’s stomach was silky and soft, maybe because he was not quite alive, but Fuma did not stop to think about it, instead marveling at every inch he was allowed to feel of Kento.

Kento murmured unintelligible things against his lips, and Fuma was not sure if he was still protesting, but his own fingers fisted the back of Fuma’s shirt, so at least, he did not push him away.

When Fuma’s fingers finally found the zipper of Kento’s jeans, Kento tensed, but Fuma was not ready to stop. He was sure that Kento could feel aroused, he was too responsive not to.

Fuma pulled away from the kiss for one moment to pull his own shirt over his head, and when he looked down at Kento again, those big brown eyes were questioning, and it made Fuma hold in to push some dark strands of hair out of Kento’s face.

“Just this one night” he whispered. “I know exactly what speaks against this and that we should not be doing this, but… I don’t care. I want to feel you, even if it’s only this one time. Please, Kento.”

Kento did not answer, but when Fuma connected their lips again, he did not protest, and it was enough.

They worked together perfectly from thereon, fingers and lips skimming over skin, and Fuma could tell how perfect it would have been had they met while Kento had still been alive. They were so different and yet so alike, and once they united, they seemed to slip into the same rhythm, creating synchrony.

This synchrony did not even falter once Fuma was inside of Kento, even though the pleasure felt too overwhelming to leave a single thought in his mind. He was just feeling by now, Kento squirming underneath him, Kento enveloping him completely, Kento whispering his name into his ear, Kento _everywhere_.

“I love you” Fuma murmured, picking up pace, squeezing a whimper out of his partner. “I never want to let you go.”

Kento did not answer, instead just finding Fuma’s lips again, and it was okay, Fuma did not need an answer. He knew he was being irrational, but still, he wanted to say it.

Just this once.

They reached their highs together, Kento losing it first, Fuma’s fingers stroking his length in time with his thrusts, and Fuma following right after him.

He collapsed onto him as he caught his breath, feeling the rapid rise and fall of Kento’s chest underneath him, becoming painfully aware of the missing heartbeat to beat in time with his.

Kento’s fingers found Fuma’s hair, lazily stroking through it, and Fuma just held into him tighter just in case Kento was planning on pulling away.

“I love you, too” Kento whispered finally. “I wish I had met you when I was still alive. So much.”

Fuma nodded, keeping his eyes closed and not moving from his position.

“Sleep” Kento murmured, still stroking his hair.

“Will you keep holding me?” Fuma asked, not caring if he sounded needy, for once.

“Yes” Kento promised, and finally, Fuma relaxed in his embrace.

***

“Fuma” Kento whispered, stroking Fuma’s hair out of his eyes, and Fuma only mumbled some half words at him, unable to pull his eyes open just yet. “Fuma, it’s time to go to university. You forgot to set your alarm.”

“I am not going” Fuma grumbled, and Kento chuckled, hitting him lightly in the back of his head. Fuma’s arms just tightened around Kento as an answer, unwilling to move just a centimeter from this position.

“ _Just for one night_ , I see” Kento murmured, and it was probably supposed to have been teasing, but came out unintentionally heavy. Kento sighed, before continuing: “You need to get to uni, Fuma. I am not letting you skip on life because of me.”

“Just a little more” Fuma whined, not seeing any need to waste the precious time he had left with Kento in class when he knew that after his courses ended, he would meet Sou and Marius to keep Kento from having died in the first place, and therefore, from meeting him.

He could hardly say any of this to Kento though, so he was not surprised when Kento clicked his tongue impatiently and dematerialized from Fuma’s embrace, making Fuma sink into the mattress with a groan.

“Get up” Kento chuckled, now sitting on the window sill again, fully dressed and grinning, and Fuma threw a lazy glare at him and pulled the blanket over his head.

Kento was persistent, though, and after proceeding to steal the blanket and even the pillow, Fuma gave in and made his way into the shower. He still took especially long to get ready, lingering as long as he could in Kento’s presence until the other boy picked up on it.

“Are you hiding anything from me?” he asked suspiciously, and Fuma was careful to keep his features perfectly neutral.

“Why?” Fuma asked, smiling playfully and leaning down to steal another kiss from Kento. Kento was not distracted by that, though, pulling away far too early to frown at him.

“You’ve been weird since last night. I feel like I am missing something.”

“I thought I already spoke my mind yesterday?” Fuma said quietly, leaning his forehead against Kento’s. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“You know that’s not possible” Kento sighed regretfully, and Fuma nodded quickly.

“I do” he agreed. “That’s why it’s so hard.”

Kento caught his lips in a soft kiss again, this time lingering himself, and Fuma tried to burn all of this into his mind, the feeling of Kento’s lips and how his tongue entwined with Fuma’s, hoping futilely that maybe, if he just tried hard enough, he would not forget.

“You gotta go” Kento said finally, pulling away, and Fuma nodded, doing his best to smile as he stepped away from him.

“See you after class” Fuma said, even though he knew it was a lie, but Kento didn’t, and he smiled as he waved at him.

“See you!”

Fuma’s eyes lingered for one more moment on Kento’s smile, before he forced himself to turn away.

***

They had agreed to meet at Marius’ house for the time travel session. They could obviously not do it in Fuma’s room, and there was a big chance that Kento would turn up at Sou’s place, so they had decided to meet up there instead.

Fuma was held up by his aunt for way too long, and he tried to smile and make conversation even though he was too nervous to focus on anything (he had spent half his class staring at the clock instead of paying attention, too), and only when Marius complained and pulled Fuma up to his room where Sou was already waiting, she would finally leave him in peace.

Sou was sitting on the floor of Marius’ room, idly turning a sand clock between his fingers, looking just as nervous as Fuma felt.

“Sit down” Marius pressed, pushing Fuma gently when he did not move until he finally plopped down next to Sou.

“What is this?” Fuma asked, nodding to the sand clock, and Sou firmly put it onto the floor in front of them as if to stop himself from touching it.

“Your time” Marius explained. “I will stay here watching it, and when half an hour has passed and the sand clock has finished, you have to return to the present. Otherwise, you’ll stay lost there forever.”

“Not scary at all” Fuma murmured, distracted when Sou handed him a small paper.

“This is the incantation” he whispered. “It’s Latin, and we need to say it together while touching the clock.”

“Is this Harry Potter or what?” Fuma mumbled, frowning at the words scribbled down on the paper.

“Whatever it is, it works” Sou snapped, more impatient than Fuma had ever seen him, and he could not really blame him. “Hold it so we both can read it.”

“Okay” Fuma nodded, holding the paper between them before following Sou’s example and bringing his free hand to the top of the sand clock.

“Ready?” Sou asked, and Fuma nodded.

“Good luck” Marius whispered breathlessly, and Fuma gulped. Sou counted quietly to three before they started speaking.

" _Tempus fugit. Tempus anima rei. Tempus rerum imperator._ "

Fuma blinked, and for a moment, nothing happened, but then, everything started spinning around them, Marius, the room, and Fuma needed to close his eyes because he was dizzy.

He felt the cold breeze hit him before he could open his eyes again, announcing that they were not in Marius’ room anymore. Everything around them was dark, and Fuma’s eyes needed a second to adjust to it, but then, he recognized the entry of the school grounds of Marius’ and Sou’s school.

He looked at Sou in slight disorientation, and then, he heard loud impact of something, and a shrill scream that could only belong to the ghost of Sato Shori’s sister.

“Let’s go!” Sou hissed, and then he was running, and Fuma had trouble to keep up because obviously, he had no clue what would be happening or where they needed to go, so he just tried his best to keep glued to Sou, knowing he would lead them to where they needed to be.

And soon, the noises grew louder. Fuma could hear something collide with a wall, and he could hear Sou’s voice, _the other_ Sou’s, and another voice, which he did not know.

And then he could see them, and he froze for a moment to stare. There was that boy he had seen through the window when he and Kento had gone to face the ghost, Sato Shori, cowering in a corner, looking totally terrified, and not far from him Sou was standing, a bloody wound on his cheek, looking around frantically.

“Duck!” Sou hissed, and Fuma was not sure what he meant, at first, but then, he heard something crack behind him and let Sou pull him to the ground. Next thing he knew, a whole freaking _door_ had flown over their heads, hitting the wall right next to Shori, causing the boy to bury his face in his knees, making himself as small as possible.

“STOP!” Sou called, not the one next to Fuma but the one next to Shori, getting to his feet. “He is your brother! You died to save him! You will regret it if you kill him now!”

“Get out of my way!” the female voice echoed, and then Fuma spotted her, standing on a tennis table, looking down at Sou and Shori furiously. “This is none of your fucking business!”

“You know that you love him!” Sou protested. “You don’t really want to do this!”

“Kento” the Sou next to Fuma whispered, and his head spun around, following his gaze until he found him, too.

Kento was standing not far from them, actually, breathless, probably from having run the way there, his eyes on Sou only, not even realizing their presence.

“What do you know about me?!” the ghost screamed, and with a flick of her hands, she burst one of the brick walls, letting it crumble in on itself. When next, some of the brick stones rose up from the dusty air by themselves, Fuma knew what was happening even without having to catch Sou’s frantic gaze.

“You save yourself” he hissed. “I will take care of Kento!”

And then, he was running.

Everything happened very fast. The stones were flying into the direction of Sou and Shori, and Kento was calling Sou’s name and sprinting towards him, but Fuma was quicker, tackling him to the ground. Meanwhile, Sou had managed to pull himself out of the way just in time before one of the stones would have hit him.

All the bricks crashed into the wall, bursting. For a second, nothing but silence was to be heard.

Fuma did not dare to move. Kento was warm underneath him, his breathing fast and his heartbeat hammering against his chest so hard that Fuma could feel it from where he was pressing him down, and for a moment, he felt like crying because Kento was _alive_.

Then, he was roughly shoved away, hitting the ground, and he flinched as he looked up at Kento, who hastily crawled away from him, eyes wide and frightened.

“Who are you?!” he demanded, and it hurt a little to be looked at with such hostility when he knew what it felt like to have this boy smiling at him, but he could not blame Kento. He would be sceptic of any stranger tackling him to the ground as well.

“I’m… not here to hurt you” Fuma murmured, but then, there was a scream from Sou, and when he shot a look at them, the Sou of the past was pressing into the wall next to Shori, looking up at his future self in complete horror.

Oh, yes, Fuma thought. Maybe it had not been such a good idea to send Sou to save himself, after all.

“I – Don’t be scared! I’m coming from the future!” Sou, the one who had traveled with me, said soothingly, but his other self seemed almost ready to faint, so Fuma was pretty sure it was not working. “We are here because we want to keep Kento from dying!”

“Kento?” The other Sou murmured, looking around in confusion, and only then, he seemed to spot Kento next to me, staring at him as if in a daze.

Kento’s eyes traveled back to Fuma, staying there for a moment, as if he was trying to understand what had just been said, but before any of them could speak up again, there was another scream from Sou (this time, the future one) as he was yanked up into the air by the ghost.

“ _You can travel through time?!”_ she hissed, and suddenly, she was floating right in front of Sou, mustering him in something like hunger. “How do you do it?! Teach me! I need to go back to keep myself from dying! I need to!”

“You can’t!” Fuma called without thinking, making the ghost turn to look at him.

She let go of Sou, and he yelped when he dropped back to the ground. Kento called his name, scrambling himself up to run to him, but froze when next, Fuma was pulled into the air and shoved against the next best stone wall.

Fuma’s head connected with the wall, and he lost orientation for a moment, but then, the ghost was right in front of him, screaming: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I CAN’T?!”

“If you don’t die” Fuma groaned, bringing the words out only with some difficulty. “Then your brother will.”

“That is the way it was supposed to happen!” she called, her hands going to Fuma’s throat, pressing down so hard that he could not breathe. “ _He_ was supposed to die, not me!”

She froze, though, when next, Shori spoke up. His voice was shaky and weak, and there were tears in his eyes as he asked, no, _pleaded_ : “Please go and save her. I don’t care if I die.”

“Shori-Kun” Sou, the past one, murmured, but Shori ignored him, instead kneeling down in front of his future self, fisting his shirt.

“Please go and save her!” he sobbed. “I am begging you. Please!”

The fingers on Fuma’s throat loosened, and he took a shaky breath, the air hurting as it came back to his lungs. He almost missed Shori’s next words.

“My sister was so much smarter than me” he murmured, shaking Sou as if that was the only way his words could reach him. “So much more loved, and she was always there for me. She shouldn’t have died, not because of me. So please… please…”

Fuma blinked when suddenly, the ghost in front of him was gone completely, instead appearing next to Shori.

Of course, Shori could not see her, and he kept begging Sou, kept shaking him and crying until the arms of his sister closed around him. Maybe he felt it, because he held in, staring into nothingness.

“Shori” she whispered, and suddenly, her voice was soft, and her colors were fading, and then, she was smiling.

Everyone was silent, Fuma, Kento, and both Sous, none of them daring to even draw a breath. Then, Shori breathed, almost too faint for Fuma to catch from the distance: “Nee-Chan?”

“I am sorry, Shori” the ghost whispered, pulling away to look at his face, smiling now. “I think for a while, I forgot who I was. Thank you for reminding me. You always did that, even when I was still alive.”

“I love you” Shori murmured, letting out a shaky sob. “I am so sorry. It’s all my fault, and-“

“Don’t” she smiled. “It’s okay.”

Fuma had only ever seen one ghost that had been strong enough to connect to their loved ones enough to talk to them, and somehow, he found it hard to tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him, of how the contours of her features seemed to blur, of Shori shaking his head, holding onto her, though Fuma knew that it was in vain. He had seen enough ghosts moving on to know what was happening.

“Nee-Chan-“

“I love you” she said firmly. “Live your life to the fullest, for both of us!”

“Please-“

“Goodbye, Shori.”

It were the last words she spoke before she was surrounded by a bright light, so bright that Fuma needed to close his eyes. When he opened them again, she was gone.

***

It was past Sou who took care of a sobbing Shori, and Fuma tried to get to his feet, but everything was spinning, so he sunk back against the wall with a groan. Maybe he had hit his head a little too hard.

“Are you okay?” a familiar voice asked, and Fuma’s eyes blinked open to look into Kento’s face.

He was leaning over him, searching his eyes, and Fuma felt weak, his gaze hanging on the drop of sweat on Kento’s forehead and the messy hair, everything that made him _alive_.

They had done it.

Fuma did not get to answer, though, because next, Sou spoke up, future Sou, who had moved over to where they were hovering on the ground.

“Fuma-Kun” he murmured, talking to Fuma though his eyes were on Kento only, taking in the living form of his beloved step brother. “Fuma, we need to leave. The time is over soon.”

“Oh” Fuma nodded, looking back at Kento, who was still mustering him with obvious curiosity.

Fuma could not help it – before he knew it, he was hugging Kento close, pressing his face into his neck and taking in his scent, sweat and something else, something that was probably Kento himself, though he had never had the chance to smell it before.

“If we ever meet again” Fuma murmured, and his voice was cracked and weak and he needed to gulp before he could continue. “Please talk to me. I won’t remember you, but please approach me. Be my friend. I might seem harsh sometimes, but I swear that if you get to know me, you will like me. So please, if you ever meet me again… just try.”

Kento did not answer, and what could he have said, Fuma did not know, and he did not need a reply.

He took a deep breath before pulling away, scrambling to get to his feet, both Sou and Kento reaching out to help him up. He still felt shaky and dizzy, but he knew that, as soon as they had traveled back, all of this would be over, anyways.

Shori and the past Sou had looked up at them as well, and the Sou next to Fuma smiled as he called: “When you meet a kid named Marius, be his friend. He is worth it, and he won’t think you are crazy when you tell him that you can see ghosts.”

The past Sou nodded slowly, making the future Sou smile and give him a peace sign. Then, he let go of Fuma for a moment to pick up the sand clock he had earlier dropped on the ground. Fuma saw that there was barely any sand left in the upper compartment.

He caught Kento’s eyes again, who was still holding him steady, and tried to smile, even though he felt like crying.

“That means goodbye.”

“I don’t even know your name” Kento protested. “Or who you are. Why you came to save me. I just-“

Instead of answering, Fuma silenced him with his lips. The kiss was short and Kento was too stunned to return it, but it was enough to make Fuma smile honestly as he pulled away and let go of Kento.

“My name is Kikuchi Fuma” Was all he said, flashing him another smile before he stretched out his hand to touch the sand clock.

It was warm and pulsating, probably counting down the seconds, and Fuma had just enough time to meet Kento’s eyes one last time before everything started spinning again, and Kento and everything else disappeared.

***

Fuma was excited to finally be able to move out from home and into one of the student dorms of Keio university. Actually, he had counted the days, eager for his new found freedom, and his father had poked fun at the big smile with which he had crossed each passing date within his calendar.

“Are these the last ones?” his father asked as he picked up one of the remaining three boxes to bring them up to Fuma’s new room.

“Yes” Fuma nodded. “Go ahead, I can take these.”

“Rather go two times, they are heavy!” his father warned before he turned for the stairs, and Fuma rolled his eyes as he ignored his advice, piling up both boxes and picking them up with a groan.

He stumbled a little from the weight, and then, he felt a hand on the small of his back, keeping him steady.

“Let me help you.”

Fuma blinked as one of the boxes was lifted out of his arms, staring at a boy with dark, tousled hair and a bright smile.

“Thanks” Fuma murmured, a little stunned, and the smile of the other grew even wider, dazzling Fuma a little for reasons he did not quite understand.

“You are new here, right?” the boy smiled, and Fuma had to remind himself to move as he started walking. “Which room are you moving into?”

“14” Fuma replied.

“Hey, I’m living in 13, that means we are neighbors!” his helper grinned. “I am Nakajima Kento, second year Social Studies.”

“Kikuchi Fuma, first year Policy Management.”

“Welcome, Fuma!” Kento grinned, and Fuma found his smile catching, smiling back automatically. “How about I invite you to dinner tonight, to break you into university life properly?”

“Sounds good” Fuma nodded, feeling weirdly hyper, though he did not quite know why.

Kento dropped the box in front of Fuma’s door and waved at him, disappearing into his own room with the promise to knock on his door later, and when Fuma pushed the door to his room open, he was still grinning stupidly.

“What’s up with that wide smile?” his mother enquired curiously, making Fuma roll his eyes.

“Nothing” he shrugged, dropping his box to the floor. “But I think I just made a friend.”


End file.
